We knew it was coming, but with the release of its new iOS apps earlier today, Twitter has confirmed that it has dropped the option allowing users to select a third-party image upload service, forcing them instead to use its own service powered by Photobucket.

When entering the options screen in the iPhone or iPad app, Twitter no longer shows an option for “Image service,” instead providing choices only for video upload and read later services:

Previously, Twitter allowed users to choose from Twitter’s own option but also provided support for yFrog, TwitPic, Mobypicture, Twitgoo, Posterous (now owned by Twitter) and img.ly.

Buzzfeed — which broke the news of a potential change in Twitter’s services three days ago — spoke with Twitpic founder Noah Everett, who said he understood the decision but wished it was different:

“They’re trying to control those eyeballs on their apps, they’re an ad-based company, they make money that way.”

The move is part of Twitter’s wider drive to deliver a ‘consistent‘ experience for users. To date, the most high-profile example of this has been restrictions on the growth of third-party Twitter clients, which caused a stink in the developer community last month.

For posterity, here’s what the image upload options used to look like in Twitter for iPhone/iPod touch.